QUT’s Cassandra Cross, an associate dean at the Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, said people were becoming more aware of scams but the fraudsters were adapting. There was even one scam in which they posed as authorities and promoted their ability to recover stolen funds, for a fee.

“The threat of fraud will only increase alongside technological evolution. Experts are concerned about artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and image and video generators giving cybercriminals yet another tool to add to their arsenal,” Cross said.

In a report published in The Conversation, Cross said there were five trends emerging that people had to watch for, including one known as “pig butchering” or “crypto-rom” which is a twist on the long-running romance scam.

The pig butchering term apparently comes from the practice of fattening up the victim as much as possible.

In this iteration, Cross said once trust is established the fraudster encourages the person to invest in a scam using crypto currency.

“This kind of romance-baiting raises fewer red flags than directly asking for money and is targeting a younger demographic compared to the traditional romance fraud,” Cross said.

There was also an increasingly sophisticated online shopping fraud in which offenders created fake websites and product advertisements that were subtly different from the real ones and consumers may not be able to tell the difference.

“Criminals can directly access funds through victims credit cards details obtained on these sites.”

She said criminals were also now adapting to using the post-Covid demand for work flexibility to lure victims.

She said offenders had taken note of the strong demand for jobs that allowed people to work from home and were posting advertisements offering high pay and flexibility.

“Victims submit their CVs and personal credentials (setting themselves up for identity crime) or may be required to pay upfront for training or materials costs for a job that doesn’t exist,” Cross said.

“Employment scams are targeting younger people in particular as they’re more likely to have experienced job loss and insecurity in the wake of the pandemic,” she said.

Remote access schemes were in a resurgence, particularly the practice of pretending to be a computer technician advising of a problem and offering to fix it. This often targeted older people and often occurred over landlines. Once they had access to someone’s computer that could find a wealth of personal information and even gain direct access to bank accounts.

Cross said the latest report on the loss of funds was further evidence that banks and financial institutions needed to implement measures to help reduce fraud losses. Among these was checking account names against BSB numbers for all transactions. This was being used in the United Kingdom in a confirmation-of-payee system.

“The Government is attempting to address the continued surge in fraud losses through the revision of its cybersecurity strategy and the potential establishment of a national anti-scams centre,” Cross said.

“These are both positive steps but it’s clear there’s a need for more work to be done.”